What I love to do most is chant mantras and sing keerthans. The amazing positive energy that it brings - I can't express it in words. Your heart lifts, your body is filled with the positive energy and it clears all the cobwebs in your mind like magic. The Bhagavatha declares, "Sarvadaa, sarvatraa, sarva kaleshu Hari chintanam" which means "Contemplate on God always, at all places and at all times." Have faith. Chant the Gayatri mantra with lots of love. [DO READ:How to Chant the Gayatri Mantra correctly] Do you have a mantra that you chant regularly? Or may be you have a favourite quote or an affirmation that energizes you? Do share it here.

This summer vacation
in Kochi, I caught up with some old friends and we exchanged real life stories
– of pain, struggles, heartbreak. One friend
began her conversation like this, “I filed for divorce. I couldn’t stand the
cruelty any more. I thought that filing for a divorce would ruin my happiness.
But I feel happier now, than I have ever been in my whole life. I am able to
enjoy my life fully and freely, without any fears and with total confidence.” I felt the
happiness in her voice. And for the first time in my life, I didn’t feel sad to
hear the word ‘divorce.’ And then she
said something thought-provoking, “People around me make comments when they see
that I am not suffering, lamenting or ashamed of having filed for divorce. They
make assumptions and shallow comments about me even after knowing all that I’ve
been through...why is it that we have become an ‘educated’ society that thrives
on comparisons and wants to see others ‘unhappy’ – i don’t understand it.” Good point.

I don’t like reading mushy romance. But Ravinder Singh’s book ‘I too had a love story’ got me crying. The book is a spell-binding, honest tale of Ravin’s love story with Khushi – the girl he loved but couldn’t marry. Ravinder Singh’s narrative resonates with honesty, passion and an innocence that is rare among today’s Indian writers. He tells you of how passionately a man can love and respect the woman he loves and how desperately he can fight for her life in the midst of life threatening crises. Most Indian love stories end predictably. Ravinder Singh’s story is not like that – I had tears flowing down my cheeks when I read Khushi’s last words to him in a moving bus. I could personally relate to that surreal experience of saying good bye forever. It has happened with me but in a different context.

And then, what broke my poise was the last chapter. There’s a sentence he writes where his father tries to persuade him to marry another girl. Ravin’s reply is this: “To think of another girl, I…

I had no great
expectations when I went to watch Dileep’s latest movie ‘Chandrettan Evideya’
especially after reading reviews that said the film has no uniqueness and no ‘emotional’
impact. When the movie was over, I realized that the movie reviews are wrong. [Reviews of other Malayalam movies I enjoyed: Sukhamo Devi, Elsamma ennoru aankutty,Bangalore Days, Mumbai Police, Anju Sundarikal]Chandrettan Evideya Malayalam Movie
Review: The StoryChandrettan Evideya
is a light-hearted, humorous family entertainer that Sidharth Bharathan has put
together. [Image credit: Kerals.com] The story goes like this: An avid columnist on
classical dance forms, Chandramohan (starring Dileep) works at the legislative
assembly in Thiruvananthapuram and his wife Sushama whom he fondly calls as “Sushu”
(starring Anusree) works in Thrissur. They are happily
married till Sushu visits a “naadijothisham” expert in Tanjore. He reveals that
her husband is likely to have a marital affair because the love of his prev…

What if you could move to a country
that made it the norm for working parents to take it easy and spend more time
with their kids?

In Brigid Schulte's book, Overwhelmed: Work, Love and Play When No One has the Time, she explores how different Denmark is from the rest of the world, particularly when it comes to parenting, leisure and sharing of household tasks by men and women.

Denmark: Parenting comes first, Productivity second The Danish economy is one of the most competitive in the world and it is also has one of the most productive ranking with one of the highest standards of living in the world.

[Image Credit: http://www.pexels.com/] Consider this: Denmark has one of the longest paid parental leaves and one
of the highest rates of mothers who work in the labor market in the world.Danish men do almost as much housework and child care as
Danish women. They are more involved in house work and child care unlike men in
any other country in the world.Danish mothers have the most leisure…

It's May 2015 already! And look what's been keeping me busy! In case you'd missed my earlier posts, here's the one on Dad's 70th birthday and the birth of my niece, Aishani. Hard to believe that the months have flown and we are at the peak of a scorching summer that is bound to last for the next two months! Here's my "Keep Cool" summer round-up of posts that I enjoyed reading: